Freshfields and Jun He triumph at China Law & Practice awards
September 15, 2012 | BY
clpstaff &clp articles &Last night China Law & Practice hosted its sixth annual Awards ceremony in Beijing. Jun He and Freshfields took home the prestigious Firm of the Year prizes. Here is the full list of winners including deals, teams and firms of the year
Selecting finalists and ultimate winners was a rigorous process that took over four months to complete. The ceremony celebrates deals, teams and firms that strived for innovation and excellence in their work.
The Deals of the Year categories considered each deal's innovative aspects and unique ability to challenge legal structures. Youku and Tudou's merger via stock swap beat off Dalian Wanda's acquisition of AMC, PepsiCo's strategic alliance with Tingyi, Alibaba's privitisation and Joy Global's acquisition of IMM for the M&A Deal of the Year.
Two of the country's leading domestic organisations took home the In-house Team of the Year Awards: Sinopec and ICBC. Both the domestic outfits had a successful year: Sinopec, with its acquisition in Brazil and ICBC, with its oil-backed financing in Venezuela.
Last year we introduced Regional Firm of the Year Awards to highlight the country's expanding economic development. Chongqing attracted more foreign direct investment than Beijing last year, as impressive tax incentives attract companies. Solton & Partners picked up the award for Chongqing Regional Firm of the Year.
The Firm of the Year Awards are for non-transactional domestic and international firms who lead the pack in their practice area. Despite CIETAC's internal struggle casting a shadow over arbitration in China this year, Herbert Smith and King & Wood Mallesons won the award for Dispute Resolution Firm of the Year, with some outstanding work.
It was China Law & Practice's honour to award Liu Chuntian with the Outstanding Achievement Award 2012. Professor Liu Chuntian is one of the country's leading authorities on intellectual property law. He has taken part in the drafting and amendment of the Patent Law, Trademark Law, Copyright Law, Anti-unfair Competition Law and other intellectual property legislation.
Finally, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Jun He Law Offices beat off stiff competition to win the much coveted International and PRC Firm of the Year Awards. These awards represent both transactional and non-transactional practice areas. The winners were selected on their overall ability across a range of areas.
The full list of winners can be found below. Look out for the full Awards Feature later in the month, complete with photographs from the event:
Deals of the Year
|Mergers & Acquisitions
Youku and Tudou merger via stock swap
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Conyers Dill & Pearman, TransAsia Lawyers, Kirkland & Ellis, Fangda Partners, Maples & Calder
|Outbound
China Three Gorges Corporation's acquisition in Portugal
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Tian Yuan Law Firm, Serra Lopes, Cortes Martins & Associados, Guarrigues & Araoz & Rueda, Barbosa, Mussnich & Aragao, Morais Leitao, Galvao Teles, Soares da Silva, Kirkland & Ellis
|Private Equity
Bain Capital privitisation of China Fire & Security
Kirkland & Ellis, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Han Kun Law Offices, DLA Piper, Shearman & Sterling, Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Fangda Partners
|Equity
Haitong Securities IPO
Clifford Chance, Grandall Law Firm, Paul Hastings, Commerce & Finance Law Offices
|Debt & Equity-linked
Yanzhou Coal Mining guaranteed notes offering
Baker & McKenzie, Freehills, King & Wood Mallesons, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Jingtian & Gongcheng
|Project Finance
ICBC's oil-backed financing to Venezuela company PDVSA
Linklaters, D'Empaire Reyna Abogados , Hogan Lovells
|Energy & Natural Resources
Shandong Iron & Steel Group's investment in African iron ore project and the associated acquisition financing
Linklaters, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Yada Williams & Associates,White & Case
|Real Estate & Construction
Bahamas Resorts Project financed by export-import bank of China
Paul Hastings, Allen & Overy
In-house Teams of the Year
|PRC Company
Sinopec
|PRC Financial Institution
ICBC
Teams of the Year
|Banking & Finance
PRC Winner: Concord & Partners
International Winner: Allen & Overy
|Capital Markets
PRC Winner: Jingtian & Gongcheng
International Winner: Davis Polk & Wardwell
|Mergers & Acquisitions
PRC Winner: Jun He Law Offices
International Winner: Clifford Chance
|Private Equity
PRC Winner: Fangda Partners
International Winner: Kirkland & Ellis
|Projects, Energy & Infrastructure
PRC Winner: Broad & Bright
International Winner: Vinson & Elkins
|Regional Firms
Chongqing – Solton & Partners
Guangzhou – Guangda Law Firm
Hangzhou – Zhejiang T&C Law Firm
Nanjing – JC Master Law Offices
Qingdao – Wincon Law Firm
Shenzhen – V&T Law Firm
Tianjin – Winners Law Firm
Firms of the Year
|Competition
PRC Winner: MWE China Law Offices
International Winner: Mayer Brown JSM
|Dispute Resolution
PRC Winner: King & Wood Mallesons
International Winner: Herbert Smith
|Intellectual Property
PRC Prosecution Winner: Liu Shen & Associates
PRC Contentious Winner: Hylands Law Firm
International Winner: Bird & Bird
|Labour & Employment
PRC Winner: TransAsia Lawyers
International Winner: Simmons & Simmons
|Real Estate & Construction
PRC Winner: Zhong Lun Law Firm
International Winner: Paul Hastings
|Shipping & Maritime
PRC Winner: Wang Jing & Co
International Winner: Ince & Co
|Tax
PRC Winner: Llinks Law Offices
International Winner: DLA Piper
|TMT
PRC Winner: Fangda Partners
International Winner: Paul Weiss
|Offshore
Maples & Calder
|Country
Hong Kong: Woo Kwan Lee & Lo
Taiwan: Lee and Li
Japan: Nishimura & Asahi
South Korea: Kim & Chang
|Up-and-Coming
Han Kun Law Offices
|Outstanding Achievement
Professor Liu Chuntian
|PRC Firm of the Year: Jun He Law Offices
|International Firm of the Year: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
To see the full list of nominations please click here
A special thank you to all the firms who participated during the research process and to the sponsors of the night: Alix Partners, Synmax Translation and Park Hyatt
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